Challenge
Osborne recognises that to achieve a quality product they have to understand their clients’ needs and work closely with them to identify how their projects impact on the end user. They must also work with customers and supply chain partners to improve the sustainability and environmental performance of their projects, and to reduce waste.
Most leading organisations now use some form of competency framework to underpin their core HR processes such as recruitment, succession planning and all aspects of performance management. In some cases, these frameworks are fairly generic with competency headings derived directly from those in common use. In others, organisations go to greater lengths to research and develop customised frameworks that reflect their unique characteristics, values and culture.
Both approaches – generic and customised – have advantages and limitations. Generic frameworks can be implemented quickly, easily and at low cost whilst the converse usually applies to customised versions. However, the latter, when well-researched and well-written, have the benefit of capturing the subtle but important differences in an organisation’s particular behaviour using language that its employees can relate to and understand instantly.
Osborne approached us with a clear need to develop a competency framework for the first time. In common with many of our other clients this need was driven by change and higher expectations, both within the business and in the external commercial environment.
This combination of heightened customer and end user expectations; increasing complexity and risk of major projects; a trend towards working in collaborative alliances with multiple partners; and the growing impact of legislation meant that people throughout the business needed to do things differently and acquire new skills. But to make these personal changes, people also needed a clear vision of what was expected of them to achieve long-term success. A set of forward-looking competencies offered the solution and a potential catalyst for wider business transformation.
Solution:
In our initial consultations, it was clear that Osborne wanted to engage senior managers in the design and approval of the framework, not only to secure all-important buy-in but also to ensure that the competencies were ‘future proofed’. A Steering Group was established, comprising directors, senior managers, HR practitioners and A&DC consultants in an inclusive team. Given the commercial context, the organisation’s rich cultural heritage and the overarching need to make the competencies understandable to everyone in the business, Osborne opted for a customised framework researched and designed especially for them.
Competency design invariably starts with some form of job analysis. Working with the Steering Group, we agreed an interview schedule with a representative sample of job holders at all levels of the organisation, covering all main job types across the regions. Sample sizes varied but in total we interviewed around 6% of the workforce over a 3-month period.
Three types of interview were used:
• Incumbent interviews with job holders to examine the nature of their work in detail
• Critical Incident interviews with line managers to pinpoint specific examples of positive and negative behaviour for their people
• Visionary interviews with directors to get a 5-year perspective of the changing shape of Osborne and the industry in general, highlighting the likely implications of change particularly for senior people
The resultant data from the interview transcripts was classified to identify real examples of skills and behaviours. This classification revealed 5 distinct role groupings within Osborne: Operational & Support; Supervisory & Technical; Core Management; Senior Management; and Executive Management. To conclude the data analysis stage, we put the examples of skills and behaviours for each role grouping into 3 provisional categories: Interpersonal, Personal and Intellectual competencies.
Next, we ran a number of focus groups where the provisional categories referred to above were re-shaped to form 3 distinct competency clusters that were more relevant to the business: Managing Performance, Working with Others and Achieving Results. We then derived 12 competency titles from the sets of common skills and behaviours for each role grouping and assigned 4 competencies to each of the clusters. Each competency title was given a different paragraph description depending on the role grouping.
To complete the framework, the behavioural examples extracted from the job analysis interviews were refined to form a manageable list of positive and negative behavioural indicators for each competency. Again, these varied according to the role groupings, but in all cases we took care wherever possible to use the interviewees’ words rather than ours. This gave the framework a high degree of authenticity and relevance to all employees.
Outcome:
Following approval from the Steering Group, an internal communication plan was devised to launch the competency framework. This included publishing an article in the company newsletter, printing booklets for each role grouping and posting information about the framework on the company’s ‘iGO’ Intranet site.
If communicating a new competency framework is highly desirable, then embedding it in the organisation is absolutely essential. As a first step, Osborne chose to link their new framework to the Job Review process. The existing Job Review Guide and Job Review Form were aligned with the competencies and new methods were introduced to further encourage self-assessment but based on people’s supporting evidence of their real achievements. Line managers were also offered training on the new process from A&DC.
Nigel Holt, Group Training & Personnel Manager at Osborne, is pleased with the progress made to date but knows that this is just the start.
‘The potential benefits of using competencies are substantial. Already we have integrated the new framework with our Job Review process and can see opportunities to use the competencies to help us recruit, promote and retain people at all levels who are right for our business and our culture. People can now better see what’s expected of them now and into the future. And by going for the customised option, we have strong buy-in from senior managers to use the competencies as a tool for improving performance’.
To find out more about our competency design and training services, please call us on 01483 860898 or email info@adc.uk.com
